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11. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

12. Moreover, they were all, with one accord, in Solomon's porch.

13. And after this, no one desired to meddle with them ;* but the people greatly magnified them.

14. And believers in the Lord were continually added, multitudes both of men and women. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;

15. So that in every street they brought forth the sick, and laid them on couches and beds, that the shadow of Peter, as he passed by, might fall upon some of them.t

16. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about, unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed, every one.

It is evident to every one that reads this passage with attention, that there is a considerable degree of confusion in the history, owing, probably, to a very ancient corruption of the original text by the transposition of sentences, through the carelessness of transcribers. I have read them in the order in which they appear to me best connected, and in which I conceive that they must have been written originally by Luke. In taking this liberty, I have done no more than what respect to the author seemed to require. The persons here said to be vexed with unclean spirits, are the same whom we find so often mentioned in the evangelists as possess ed with dæmons, namely, either insane persons or epileptics.

Solomon's porch or portico, so called because built by him, and left standing when the rest of the temple was taken down, was on the eastern side of that building. Here the disciples assembled for public worship and instruction, when shut out of the temple; no one daring to prohibit them.

So this passage is found in an ancient version, and it connects very well with what follows; being more intelligible than what we have in our translation, "And of the rest durst no man join himself to them." See Wakefield.

† Wakefield.

REFLECTIONS.

1. THIS story affords a striking picture of the odious nature and the dreadful consequences of the vice of lying. It is a high offence both against God and man. In respect to the latter, indeed, it possesses different degrees of malignity, according to the object which men propose to themselves by uttering wilful falsehood whether it be merely to conceal guilt, to acquire honour or riches, or for the more criminal purpose of depriving others of their property, of injuring their reputation, or taking away their lives. In the most favourable instances, it is a mean, selfish and pernicious vice, destroying the mutual confidence so necessary to the well-being of society, and introducing universal distrust and confusion. In some cases it becomes the foulest crime to be found in the calendar of human vices, and deserves to be ranked with theft, robbery, and murder, because employed to effect these enormities. In every case it is an offence against God, as well as because those who are guilty of it show that they suppose that he is ignorant of their behaviour, or indifferent about their moral character; that he knows not their guilt, or is unable or unwilling to punish it; a presumption highly derogatory from the essential attributes of his nature, and the purity of his moral administration; a presumption which partakes of the malignity of perjury, and which the righteous Governor of the world cannot fail highly to resent.

man,

Let those who indulge themselves in this odious practice assuredly know that an omniscient Being is perfectly acquainted with all their secret falsehoods, however artfully disguised; and that, although he may not, from motives of wisdom and forbearance, inflict immediate death upon the offender as in the present instance; yet he beholds his conduct with displeasure, and will one day visit it with severe punishment. All liars shall have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.

To men of every age this narrative furnishes useful instruction; but more particularly to those who are in the early part of life. The temptations to falsehood are many and powerful; but, whenever tempted, let the young recollect this story, and they cannot fail to find in it strong motives for maintaining a sacred regard to truth in all circumstances.

2.

We are here furnished with fresh presumptive evidence of the truth of the gospel history. Those who were so forward to punish falsehood and deceit, must surely be men without guile. How could Peter have had the effrontery to reprove Ananias for uttering a lie, if he himself had been at the same time publishing a more flagrant lie, in reporting the resurrection of his Master, and in asserting his own claim to a divine commission? How could God, the impartial Judge of all the earth, punish the less offender with so much severity, and let the greater go free?

Or how could men, with such dreadful examples before their eyes, persist in a notorious fraud? To such questions as these, let the enemies of our faith, if they are able, reply.

SECTION VIII.

The apostles being imprisoned, are miraculously delivered. They defend themselves before the council, and are dismissed with scourging.

ACTS v. 17-42.

17. THEN the high-priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation;

18. And laid hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

By saying that the high-priest and those who were with him, that is, the persons in public offices, were the sect of the Sadducees, the writer implies that such persons generally adopted the tenets of this sect. It is not likely, therefore, that the opinion commonly entertained of them can be true, namely, that they rejected all the books of Scripture, except the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; for it is not to be supposed that persons denying the authority of so great a proportion of the Scriptures, would be placed in such situations. It is certain, however, that they denied the resurrection of the dead, and this, probably made them so violent in opposing the Christians, who maintained that doctrine. They were not satisfied now with apprehending one or two of the apostles, but seized the whole number, finding that they were all alike active in preaching.

19. But the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

20. Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life, or, "all this doctrine of life,' "* i. e. the doctrine of eternal life.

It was the opinion of the Sadducess, but not necessarily untrue because patronized by them, that the angels mentioned in Scripture as intelligent agents, had no permanent existence, but were men or phantoms created by God for the particular occasion on which they appeared. Of this nature, may have been the being who performed the present miracle, which was intended to give courage to the apostles in preaching the gospel.

* See the authorities for Taura Tns was in Wakefield, and Griesbach, second edition.

21. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught: but the high-priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate, "all the elders," of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

This was not an ordinary assembly of the Sanhedrim; for all the members were summoned to meet, as if to deliberate upon a matter of the highest moment. The high-priest aad his companions have nothing less in view than putting to death the whole company of the apostles, as the only means left for stopping the progress of the new doctrine.

22. But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned and told,

23. Saying, The prison, truly, found we shut with all safety, and the keepers, "the guard," standing before the doors;* but when we had opened we found no man within.

As the guards could give no account of the prisoners, it is probable that they were all thrown into a deep sleep, at the time when the angel opened the doors and let them forth. In a similar instance, when Peter was liberated, the soldiers were put to death which was the Roman punishment for sleeping upon guard.

24. Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow, "they doubted how this could be."+

They doubted how they had been able to escape, whether it was by corrupting the guards, by their falling asleep, or by some other means. The captain of the temple, as before explained, was the priest who presided over all the different classes of priests, employed in the temple service.

25. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison, are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

26. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence, that is, without their being bound; for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.

27. And when they had brought them, they set

* Griesbach rejects . + Doddridge, Wakefield, and Harwood.

them before the council, and the high-priest asked them,

28. Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? "about this name," and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring, "and wish to bring," this man's blood upon us.

Here we see the ground of the alarm of the Jewish rulers, and the cause of their animosity against the apostles. They taught the people respecting Jesus, that he was a great prophet, and that the Jewish rulers, in putting him to death by crucifixion, had been guilty of a heinous crime; and they did this so industriously and indefatigably, that Jerusalem was already filled with their doctrine, and the common people in no small degree inflamed against their rulers, as appeared from their disposition to commit violence on those who came to apprehend the apostles.

29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, (he spoke in the name of the rest,) We ought to obey God rather than men.

30. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree, "by hanging on a tree;"

31. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, "at his right hand," to be a prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness, "remission," of sins.

32. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Spirit, which God hath given to them that obey him.

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus. By the phrase, "raised up," we are not here to understand raised from the dead, but honoured with a divine commission. The words are to be understood in the same sense as when they occur in the celebrated prophecy of Moses, who says, "A prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, as he raised me."

"Whom ye slew by hanging on a tree." It is observable that Peter, although by no means disposed to spare the Jewish rulers, or afraid of offending them, never mentioned any aggravation of their crime, arising from putting to death a great preexistent spirit, the Maker of the world, or another God, which is a plain proof that no such aggravation existed. "Him hath God exalted at his right hand." These words do not refer to any local elevation, but are merely metaphorical, and intended to signify a state of high favour and honour, such as those usually possessed,

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